We have a distinct set of beliefs for Austin Girls select basketball. Our girls need coaches dedicated to helping them become winners before we focus on winning. They deserve coaches who can see the winner inside them and give them the guidance with encouragement, expertise, and accountability to become passionate about growing and reaching their goals. They also deserve a team dedicated to both expertise and hours to teaching skill development rather than talking about “fundamentals.”
The Fierce plays full court man to man defense. Period. We know this will hurt our win/loss record. But it lays a foundation that our players will thank us for as varsity or college athletes. We went to the Bowie Westlake girls Varsity game last week. The reality is unless you can play aggressive, on balance, in a stance defense… there is no place for you on the roster.- The Fierce plays aggressively and will spend less focus on control and instead place a greater emphasis on forward-looking fast break offense. The players will benefit by increasing their athleticism greatly over other players stuck running control based slowdown offense.
- The Fierce is a family. Players will respect each other. Hidden agendas and rooting against other players is not tolerated. By parents or players. Our players are a family. And their families are part of that family. Communication should be transparent. Hidden agendas are natural, but not healthy. The coaching staff must remain open to questions and problems of parents in order to keep communication healthy.
- Our job is to teach vision with assertive, collaborative decision making. We coach, to guide and support, not turn players into robots running our “offensive” plays.
- We play position-less basketball. Yes, our taller players need to rebound, but so do our smaller players. And if your player works hard on ball handling, we don’t tell them they can’t dribble because they play center. Everyone can shoot threes. We spend more time teaching skills that support their basketball dreams than telling them what they can’t do.
- We give players platform not ceilings. When it comes to what they can and can’t do… there is yet and not yet. There is no can’t. That said, playing time is earned, not a given. Just like life. Because we full court press in man to man, with a focus on quality of 100% effort minutes over quantity of minutes, most of our players have been happy with their playing time. We are preparing these ladies for Varsity basketball and life.
- We coach with Passion | Purpose | Power. We expect the same effort from our players. Your children will know the meaning of all in. We consistently help them dig deeper to move their effort meter and turn effort into a skill.
- We believe loyalty and the “family” of a team is a two-way street. Meaning your players are lucky to play with us. But we are lucky to have coachable, fierce young women play for us. We don’t take this lightly. We see our players as the most important thing on the court at all times. We see them as individuals that choose to come together as a team. The rules are the same for all, how we get them there can be a customized path for each player.
- We believe in a competitive spirit that is Fierce, Focused, and Fun. We don’t believe in the assassin type mentality we see glamorized in sports. Players can be fierce and smile. You can pick up an opponent you knocked over. You can be happy 10 minutes after a loss. We also create toughness that these girls can use the rest of their playing days, but more importantly in their lives. They will face anxiety and stress in their schools, careers, families, and in our world. We help use the hectic game of basketball as a real-life classroom often lacking in the schools. We will teach them what it means to balance being a good teammate while still choosing to stand out from the pack.
- We believe fun and friendships are a very critical element of this and are thankful for parents that support that theme. Thank you to our newly appointed CFO (Chief Fun Officer), Heather Corbett. Thank you also to parents like Kara Fields for the Fun support at her pool party etc. We have an ideas list of fun events we will choose from with parent and player feedback.
- Our leadership team has been part of the training process of many young women who go on to college players. We are proud of all of them. If and when your child decides that is a goal, we will be there to guide you so they may move on to places like University of Texas, Columbia University, Maryville University, Colorado College, and Hendrix College where we currently have players recruited and playing. We see all of these girls as potential college athletes if they are determined. The odds against it are huge… only 2% of Varsity players can continue on to college basketball. But we like to overcome odds.
The Fierce plays full court man to man defense. Period. We know this will hurt our win/loss record. But it lays a foundation that our players will thank us for as varsity or college athletes. We went to the Bowie Westlake girls Varsity game last week. The reality is unless you can play aggressive, on balance, in a stance defense… there is no place for you on the roster.
We believe loyalty and the “family” of a team is a two-way street. Meaning your players are lucky to play with us. But we are lucky to have coachable, fierce young women play for us. We don’t take this lightly. We see our players as the most important thing on the court at all times. We see them as individuals that choose to come together as a team. The rules are the same for all, how we get them there can be a customized path for each player.We Are Fierce.
